S&P Dow Jones Indices announced today that Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) will be replacing the industrial giant in a week, on June 26. Walgreens' shares jumped 4.3% after hours following the news. If it can hold on to those gains through tomorrow’s close, it will be the stock's best streak since October 2016.

By contrast, GE's shares are falling 2.1% on the news, but it's not exactly a total surprise. As Barron's predicted in a recent cover story (“General Electric’s Dim Prospects,” Feb. 17), the move was triggered by its dismal performance: The shares are down more than 25% year to date, and that's on top of the 45% fall in 2017.

Nonetheless, being dropped from the Dow is "slap in the face," as we noted previously. GE was an original member of the Dow, going back to 1896, and had been included in the index continuously since 1907.

S&P said that the change will make the Dow "a better measure of the economy and the stock market," and it didn't pull any punches in its press release. "The low price of GE shares means the company has a weight in the index of less than one-half of one percentage point. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s share price is higher, and it will contribute more meaningfully to the index."

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.